


Hearts Awakened, Live Alive

by kenobiteez



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: ATEEZ Storyline Challenge, Alternate Universe - College/University, Dreams, Dreams vs. Reality, Gen, but not really, no beta we die like men, they're pirates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:14:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25152208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenobiteez/pseuds/kenobiteez
Summary: Mingi doesn't dream, he can't afford to dream.One day he dreams of an hourglass.
Relationships: Choi Jongho & Song Mingi, Song Mingi & Park Seonghwa
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Hearts Awakened, Live Alive

**Author's Note:**

> Hello:]
> 
> After getting frustrated at the event, I decided to post my one-shot here. 
> 
> I used another nickname on the ateez website (seonghwarts) but yes, that is me, I'm not stealing anything.
> 
> This shot is based on Mingi's, Jongho's and Seonghwa's prompts, very, /very/ vaguely.

_"Time's running out, Song Mingi."_  
_"Where's your captain?"_

Mingi opened his eyes.

He hasn't had a dream in a long time, his nights being filled with an endless black void of nothing. It has been like that for a long time. Well... Not anymore.

A single hourglass was filling that void for a full eight hours, nothing more, nothing less. The hourglass stood in front of him, the small particles of sand dripping one by one and that gave Mingi all sorts of anxiety, making him wake up restless. Something to add to his dream was a strange yet familiar voice, asking him about something, about someone, and that his time to answer was running out.

"Mingi!" His mother called. "Breakfast's ready!"

Mingi stared at the ceiling for two more minutes before leaving the bed, already smelling the fried rice from his mother. He quickly changed to a simple shirt with something else, finally grabbing his backpack with heavy textbooks and meaningless notebooks. A reminder of his failed dream. After an uneventful breakfast, Mingi meets with Jongho in the library, something they would always do to study or just to spend time with each other. They've been friends for a long time and Mingi enjoyed Jongho's presence.

"I had a weird dream last night," Jongho said, grabbing Mingi's attention. The younger of the two noticed and kept talking. "I was in a room, and there was this...masked person and he was holding an hourglass."

Mingi straightened his posture, frowning. "An hourglass?"

Jongho nodded. "Yeah, he was wearing all black with chains and a black fedora, he looked like he was dangerous, it was kind of scary, to be honest."

"Did he tell you something?" Mingi asked, closing his textbook, homework can wait. Somehow, Jongho's dream was way more interesting than that. Jongho on the other hand seemed shocked that Mingi was interested.

"Something about a captain, I was like a pirate and I assumed he was talking about my captain. The weirdest part is that...the guy's eyes seemed so familiar," Jongho crossed his arms in his chest, frowning and a small pout on his lips, thinking. "and his voice was familiar too. But I can't grasp who it reminds me too."

"I heard a voice in my dream talking about a captain." Mingi suddenly said, surprising Jongho. "It wasn't a lot, but the voice was telling me that time is running out and asking about my captain."

Jongho tilted his head in clear confusion. "Well, this is weird."

The two decided to finish the conversation there, focusing back on their assignments, but Mingi couldn't focus on his. Either the voice of his dream was making him uneasy, or that his brain couldn't handle more equations. The sun was going down when they got out of the library and said their goodbyes.

Mingi on his way decided to call Seonghwa, out of nowhere and just because his brain told him to.

_Maybe he knows something._

"Mingi! Good to hear from you." Mingi heard his hyung say on the other side of the line.

"Hyung, have you heard about Hongjoong-hyung lately?" He asked, and felt how Seonghwa stopped smiling. "I'm sorry to call you just for that, but he's not answering my calls."

"I haven't seen Hongjoong in days."

That...was not good. Yes, Hongjoong used to appear and disappear for hours in the university's studio, but then he would text Seonghwa or anyone else of their friend group where he was. That sentence made something cold run down Mingi's spine.

"And no, Mingi, I don't know where he is." Seonghwa sighed, clearly frustrated. "Yunho was looking for him but nothing, Jongho wanted to help him but his parents didn't allow him to."

Where's your captain, Song Mingi?

The voice said again, now it felt closer. Mingi clenched the hand that was holding the phone and turned around, just to see a masked figure...a masked figure with a black fedora. He gasped in fear and stepped back, but the figure stood still, observing him with cold grey eyes, his hands in the pockets on his jacket. Something that Mingi noticed was, that the figure was smaller than him.

"Mingi? Are you okay?"

Mingi blinked, and the masked figure was gone.

"Y-Yeah, I...I thought I saw something..." He said, looking everywhere, looking for the mysterious person, probably the one from Jongho's dream. "Can we meet tomorrow?"

"Uhm? Yeah, we can." Seonghwa seemed taken back with the sudden meetup.

"Good, I'll text you tomorrow."

\---

Seonghwa and Mingi were sitting down in a café. Seonghwa had his laptop out and he was doing schoolwork, from what he told Mingi. The younger of the two was anxiously moving the straw in his drink.

"You look stressed." Seonghwa's deep voice made him get out of his thoughts. Mingi looked up and the oldest wasn't even looking at him, well, not at the second he looked. "What's on your mind?"

"I was in the library with Jongho yesterday." Mingi started, looking down at the whipped cream of his drink."And he told me about this dream he had."

"I thought you weren't interested in dreams."

"I'm not." Mingi quickly said Seonghwa looked at him with an eyebrow raise. "It was just...I had a dream too, and you know that I don't dream. The point is...we had really similar dreams."

"What was it? People can have similar dreams and mean different." Seonghwa said, making Mingi sigh.

"He had a dream of a masked person with a fedora holding an hourglass and asking him about a captain. My dream had an hourglass and a voice asking me the same...and that the time was running out."

Seonghwa stopped typing, the usual sound of a keyboard quieting down. The older looked at him, his big eyes expressing confusion, even showing a little bit of fear.

"How was the masked person? How did he look like?"

"I'm not sure if it was the same masked person but when we were talking last night I saw him standing in the dark behind me. He was shorter than me and I could only see his eyes." Mingi explained making Seonghwa hum in acknowledge. "He just feels extremely familiar and I don't know why."

Seonghwa put something out of his pocket, a necklace that Mingi knew it was Hongjoong's. "I found this in my doorstep," Seonghwa said, looking at the item. "It was the day Hongjoong disappeared. Every time I have it with me I get this smell...this scent. It's salty, it's warm."

"Like the ocean" Mingi muttered, Seonghwa nodded.

"I dreamed of the ocean the same night Jongho dreamed about the masked man, and the same night that Hongjoong disappeared." Seonghwa closed his laptop and put his arms in the table, making himself move forward a little bit. "And the same night the voice in your dream asked you about the captain."

"What does this mean, hyung?" Mingi asked, feeling that he had more questions than answers.

"Something happened to Hongjoong, and I think it's our mission to find him before the man with the black fedora does."

"What?" Mingi asked, not believing what his hyung was saying. "But where do we look? Maybe he isn't even in Seoul anymore!"

"Then we will look in every single corner of this country, Mingi" Mingi looked at Seonghwa in the eye. "Hongjoong might be in danger if this masked dude finds him before us."

Mingi scratched his head, in clear confusion. "Is Hongjoong the captain?"

"In my dream we were all a pirate crew, sailing around the ocean." Seonghwa explained his own dream. "Hongjoong was the captain, I was his first mate, the second in command in the ship."

Mingi suddenly felt like it was something way deeper than just a dream. Yes, he sometimes daydreamed to be somewhere else, doing something else. Yes, he sometimes could hear the seagulls even though he was inside. Yes, he sometimes felt like this wasn't his life.

"And in the dream, we were looking for a treasure. Hongjoong was obsessed with it." Seonghwa kept telling, Mingi feeling like he knew what he was talking about. "And we were about to get it, but the treasure had a defense mechanism that made us go against each other and become our darkest selves."

"The masked people." Mingi said and Seonghwa stared at him, surprised, mouth slightly open.

"Mingi...I think we are dreaming."

**Author's Note:**

> Twitter: @uwujongh


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